Twisted
by theKeeperofMemories
Summary: The Olympians is a large, twisted family filled with mysteries. Crazy ladies, school problems, family conflicts... but their main problem soon became Firestorm. When Artemis and Apollo went missing, it's up to their siblings to save them from the death grip of the legendary terrorist organization, while the twins struggled from the other side to reunite with their family as well.
1. The Olympians

**I**

If you asked around about the Olympians, everybody would tell you, 'Oh, I know them!'

No, they're not celebrities or anything.

They're the strangest, most twisted family ever to be known in the history of humans.

Obviously, their name isn't actually the Olympians. It should be the Olympia's but since that sounds stupid, everybody just somehow decided that this unusual family would be called 'the Olympians'.

As stated above, the Olympians are a strange bunch. Crazy ladies, strange diseases, mischievous kids… everything including missing children.

**Θνητός ****αθάτοι**

Zeus Olympia is the head of the Olympia family. He is big, tall guy with neat black hair always slicked back and electric blue eyes. He is an extremely successful business man, easily making his family rich.

As a father, he is strict and slightly leaning towards the short-tempered side, but is also caring in his own unique way, which includes ignoring his children.

Currently, he is in his office, typing away in his computer.

Then, his phone rang.

Annoyed, Zeus picked it up. "Hello?" he asked, trying not to let his annoyance show in his voice.

"Hello, dear brother!" A cheerful voice sounded on the other side.

Zeus's eye twitched. "Poseidon…"

Poseidon Olympia is Zeus's older brother, and has a just-as-successful business. Poseidon has black hair like his brother, but has green eyes instead of blue, and was much tanner. His demeanor was also much more relaxed and casual, letting people be more comfortable in his presence than in Zeus's.

"My," said Poseidon cheerfully. "Why sound so grumpy during such a beautiful Saturday?"

Zeus glanced out his office window. Indeed, the weather is nice, with all that warm sunshine and pretty flowers.

"I'm a busy man, Poseidon," Zeus growled. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" Poseidon feigned hurt. Then, in a more serious voice, he said, "Amphitrite and I have to go meet a few of my colleagues. Triton, as usual, doesn't want to go, so he's going to stay at your house."

Zeus's mouth fell open. "You're going to leave that annoying little brat here? Are you trying to drive me crazy?"

"Hey, he's not that bad!" Poseidon said protectively.

That, however, is not at all near the truth. Triton Olympia is the son of Poseidon, and looks almost exactly like his father. However, he doesn't have his father's cheerful mood. Triton is proud and extremely annoying, winning the MAFM Award for 8 years in a row.

MAFM stands for Most Annoying Family Member, for your information. It is voted during every Olympia family reunion.

Zeus didn't say anything and hung up.

He rang a bell on the side of his desk. "Iris," he called.

Iris is Zeus's personal messenger. He hired her mainly because (as he likes to believe) he's too busy to go tell his family things they need to know. His family believes that it's actually because he's too lazy.

The petite young woman walked into the office, wearing a rainbow colored dress, flats, and golden bracelets. Her hair was put up in a ponytail.

"Yes, Mr. Olympia?" she asked cheerfully.

Even thinking about what he's about to say makes Zeus groan. "Iris, tell my family, especially the kids that Triton is coming over. They need some, ah, mental preparation."

Iris, having worked for the Olympians for a long time, turned slightly pale and nodded, knowing this is a big deal.

"Yes, of course," and she backed out the room.

**Θνητός ****αθάτοι**

Saturday is a nice day. An especially good day to go to the Therapist.

Athena couldn't help feel more annoyed. Why is it that her step-mother has to drag her to _every single one_ of her therapy sessions?

The moment they entered the room, Hera leapt upon Asclepius, her personal therapist. "Oh Asclepius!" she cried. "I can't help thinking that Zeus is cheating on me!"

Athena couldn't help roll her eyes. _'Of course he is,'_ she thought, opening her textbook so she could study for the upcoming Chemistry test. _'Why do you think I'm alive in this world with Zeus as my father and you not as my mother?'_

Athena sighed, tucking a strand of wavy black hair behind her ear and her stormy gray eyes scanned through the page, filling her mind with information.

'_Stupid Hera,'_ Athena thought, glancing up from her book to see Hera, in all her majesty's dramatic glory, sobbing as she explained her 'problems' to Asclepius.

The young girl couldn't help admiring Asclepius's patience. If she was the Therapist, she would've kicked her step-mother out the moment she stepped in.

After one whole torturous hour, the therapy session ended and Hera left, plucking Athena's textbook out of her hand as she passed by.

"We're leaving!" she called over her shoulder, sweeping her long brown hair over her shoulder.

"As if I don't know that," Athena grumbled.

"Do not talk to me like that, young woman!" Hera Olympia said shrilly, her brown eyes narrowed and her pretty face contorted into scowl.

"Don't make that expression, old lady," Athena muttered as she swept past her step-mother. "It makes you look corpulent."

**Θνητός ****αθάτοι**

As much as Zeus wishes Poseidon would change his mind about letting his son stay at his house for a little while, his prayers was in vain.

Triton had arrived.

Immediately after he slammed open the door, knocked over (purposely) a vase while running and taking off his shoes at the same time, threw his jacket into the kitchen, he slammed open the door with the name 'Ares' on it.

Inside the room, decorated red and black, a boy with brown hair and reddish brown eyes was sprawled on the bed, casually flipping a comic book.

"Hello Triton," Ares said, not looking away from his book, completely unfazed by Triton's violent movements. "What brings you here?"

Triton rolled his eyes. "You know very well why I'm here, with that useful messenger girl you guys have."

Ares threw his comic book across his room. "Yeah well, let's get my stupid brother and play video games."

"Sure."

So the two boys knocked on a door marked 'Hephaestus' on it.

"What?" a gruff voice called out.

"Hey, Heffy, wanna come play video games?" Ares called back.

"No thanks, Ares. I'm working on a project."

Triton muttered a few curse words under his breath. "Ungrateful brat."

"Whatever," Ares shrugged. "Two can do."

But Triton couldn't help thinking why Hephaestus wouldn't come out. Maybe because he wasn't the most attractive person ever. He was crippled at a young age and was in an accident, slightly deforming his face.

"And I'm not declining your offer because I'm ugly!" Hephaestus shouted from his room.

**Θνητός ****αθάτοι**

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"

"YOUR. ARCHERY. SKILLS. ARE. TERRIBLE."

"HOW DARE YOU!"

Silvery gray eyes met blue ones, and an auburn braid swished as the girl suddenly moved to punch the boy. However, the boy dodged and the two of them began to fight, tackling each other to the ground.

"Watching Artemis and Apollo fight is even more interesting than soap opera. Right, Dionysus?" a boy with sat-and-pepper hair and sky blue eyes asked the boy next to him, his mouth filled with popcorn.

"I- _hic!_ agree with you- _hic!_ Hermes," the other boy said, a cup of red wine in his hand. His black hair was scraggly and unkempt, his purplish blue eyes half closed and unfocused from his drink. Then, he promptly passed out.

Hermes ignored the other boy and continued watching the twin's cat-fight, rolling around in the flowerbed.

Wait, in the _flowerbed_.

"Oh no," Hermes muttered.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" a voice screamed. Hermes, Apollo, and Artemis turned to find a woman with wheat colored, wavy blonde hair and brown eyes marching up to them.

"Shit," Artemis swore. "It's Demeter."

"And you tell _me_ not to swear," her younger twin brother grumbled.

Demeter was the twin's aunt, sister of Hera and Hestia. Her nephews and nieces like to call her 'slightly' crazy. Hera Olympia however likes to believe that her sister is perfectly fine, though many psychologists would've disagreed with her on that.

"HOW DARE YOU?! MY FLOWERBEDS!" the slightly insane woman screeched.

Hermes hopped up to her. "Don't worry, Auntie Demeter. We can use the crushed flowers to make honey!"

Artemis's eye twitched.

"Don't be stupid," Demeter said. "Flowers make cereal, dear, not honey. It's cereal."

Apollo's eye twitched.

"Really?" Hermes asked with genuine curiosity. "How come?"

Dionysus's nose twitched as he snorted in his sleep.

"Well," his aunt started and began ranting about how to make cereal and how cereal is healthy.

Artemis sighed. "Apollo, did you bring poker cards. Demeter obviously isn't going to let us go any time soon."

Smirking, her brother pulled out a box of cards. "Of course, sis. Unlike you, I am always prepared."

Unfortunately, that sentence was enough to infuriate Artemis.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"

**Θνητός ****αθάτοι**

Hades was thoroughly annoyed. He felt like he hasn't slept for days, his hair messy, his suit crumpled, and dark shadows under his eyes.

So much freaking paperwork.

"Hades?" a sleepy voice sounded at the doorway of his office. Persephone stood there, yawning, her black hair slightly tousled, her brown eyes seemingly to change color under the bad lighting, wearing a white nightgown and pink slippers with little flowers on them.

"Don't worry, dear, I'm almost done. Go to sleep."

Hades' wife nodded and went back to their bedroom.

Hades continued with his paperwork…

"You sure are busy, Hades. Get some rest," a voice sounded behind him. He almost jumped a foot into the air.

The eldest Olympia brother spun around, gasping, to find a young girl perched on the windowsill.

He groaned. "Hestia, how did you get in here?"

"I climbed the window," the young girl replied.

The young girl, in fact, was not actually young, though her physical appearance does make her seem like it. Hestia has slightly wavy black hair and warm brown eyes and is actually older than both Demeter and Hera, her two sisters. The only reason she looks like she's seven is because when she was young, she got a sickness that made her body stop growing.

"You should rest," Hestia said firmly, as if talking to a young child.

"I still have a lot of work," Hades replied, turning back to his mountainous piles of paperwork.

"You've been overworking yourself ever since Melinoe disappeared and that was 3 years ago!"

"No, I'm not!" the dark haired man snapped back.

"I demand you to stop."

Hades rolled his eyes. "You don't have the power to tell me that."

"No," Hestia agreed. "I don't."

Hades began writing.

"But," she said, "I have researched and came up with a possibility of where your daughter might have disappeared to."

Hades froze and turned around slowly, not quite believing his ears. "You've found a possibility of where Melinoe had gone to? She's not dead?"

Hestia nodded solemnly. "As for whether or not she's dead, I'm not sure. But, as I said before, there is a possible place where she might be."

Hades leaned forward, his heart hammering his chest. But Hestia's next word almost gave him a heart attack.

"Firestorm."


	2. School

**II**

For the Olympian children, if having Triton over is bad enough, school is worse.

It's not supposed to be worse, however. Most people would be jealous at their social lives. After all, being one of the richest, best looking students in the school would give you a lot of friends.

Or _quote_, friends, _unquote_, for that matter.

Ares and Triton would be surrounded by the jocks, Athena with her group of smart and pretty people. Apollo is always mobbed by girls and boys alike, while Artemis has her own group of hot (according to Apollo) girls that hates boys like crazy. Hermes has a group of troublemakers.

It seems that only Hephaestus, Hebe and Dionysus are the only normal in school.

Hebe Olympia was the daughter of Zeus and Hera, and was one of the nicer and kinder children of the Olympians. She was small and petite with long black hair and brown eyes, giving her a shy, quiet look, matching her personality perfectly. She was rather pretty so the only reason she's not mobbed by people like her siblings was because she was shy.

Hephaestus was alone mainly because he's not beautiful or handsome like his siblings, but even so, he has his girlfriend Aphrodite, an extremely pretty girl with caramel brown hair and eyes that's always changing colors.

As for Dionysus, it's because he reeks of wine and was usually asleep, which, in his dictionary, was another word for drunk. How he managed to smuggle wine into the school will forever be a mystery. And let's wish it remains that way.

**Θνητός** **αθάτοι**

As usual, Hephaestus was seated by himself in the cafeteria, munching on a chocolate chip cookie and making a helicopter out of rubber bands at the same time.

Somebody slid in beside him. "Hey," Aphrodite said, smiling as she took her lunch out of her bag.

Hephaestus grunted in reply.

His girlfriend pouted. "Are you in a bad mood?"

He shook his head slightly, still concentrated on the helicopter.

"Hephaestus!" Aphrodite shouted, attracting looks from a few tables around them.

Finally, the boy looked up. "Sorry, Aphrodite. I was trying to make the helicopter work."

"Your inventions always work," Aphrodite frowned.

"No, you see, I'm trying to let this fly over and hit Triton in the head. Maybe stick some food in his hair in the process."

Aphrodite laughed, her voice like the chiming of bells. "That's genius! Oh, I got glitter here. Make it explode above Triton's head!"

Hephaestus grinned. "Right on it."

After another 10 minutes, the couple was ready.

"Ok, 'phaestus, aim, steady, LAUNCH!" Aphrodite whispered excitedly.

Her boyfriend obeyed. The helicopter flew three tables down and the sac of glitter suddenly exploded, right on top of Triton's head.

"Yes!" Aphrodite screamed. "Now run!"

The couple fled, laughing, with a very angry, glitter-covered Triton hot on their heels.

**Θνητός** **αθάτοι**

Apollo watched, amused as his older half-brother launched his rubber band helicopter and dumped a bunch of glitter on Triton's head. His older twin sister sat across him, also watching, amused, as their cousin chased Hephaestus and his girlfriend out the cafeteria.

"Strange how Hephaestus acts so differently when Aphrodite is around," Artemis mused. "Especially when Aphrodite is a bitch."

Apollo tutted, a perfect imitation of Demeter. "Don't swear, dear," he said in a high-pitched voice, causing his sister to snort.

"Whatever."

"Anyways," Apollo said, "about Hephaestus, its called love."

The younger twin had spread out his arms and said 'love' in a dreamy voice.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "I'm finished," she said, standing up and packing her lunchbox. "You?"

"Almost," Apollo gobbled down the rest of his lunch, packed his lunchbox quickly and hurried after his sister.

"Okay, brother, you know the rules," Artemis began to lecture as the two of them put their backpacks against a tree. "When we go inside, pull the cap as down as you can without covering your vision completely. Try not to attract attention and don't smile, because that attracts attention." She pulled two caps out of her bag and passed one of Apollo.

"When did we start doing this again?" he asked.

"About 2 years ago when _somebody _decided to have plastic surgery," was the reply.

"I didn't have plastic surgery!"

"No," his sister agreed. "You didn't. But you look like it, making you exceedingly good-looking and your smile much too bright."

"Thanks for the compliment, sis."

"I wasn't complimenting you. You're an asshole."

Apollo pouted but decided not to say anything, not noticing the fact that his sister had cussed again. It seemed like these days, Artemis is starting to warm up at the idea at swearing.

Silently, the twins crept into the locker area, pulling their caps down. Technically Artemis doesn't need the cap because boys all know not to mess with her, but she still wore it since everybody knows that her brother will be next to her when they enter the locker area. Then, they'll get mobbed.

Just like every other day.

It was very annoying. Girls would swarm forward, loopy with love. They venerated Apollo's dazzling smile, sky blue eyes, and perfect, golden skin. They adored his carefree manner and humorous jokes. What they didn't know is that they were the jokes.

Boys would come up to him, thinking that he's popular and could easily get a girl. They also want to come up to the legendary Olympus mansion, which is stupid because bringing friends back home without permission is against one of the ground rules of the Olympians.

Slinking in the shadows, the twins went past the locker area and arrived in front of the library. Immediately, Apollo ripped off his cap.

"Mission success!" he cheered and was about to go into the library when something unexpected happened.

He got mobbed.

**Θνητός** **αθάτοι**

Artemis couldn't help but laugh as she watched her younger twin brother be swept away by the crowd of fans and lovers. Then she spun around, and jogged down the hallway to find her friends.

The Hunters, everyone called them, and Artemis couldn't help but feel proud.

The older twin found her friends hanging out in the locker area, chatting and doing their homework.

"Hey Zoë," she said as she settled down next to the dark haired girl.

Zoë nodded in response, completely focused on her Math homework.

"Have you guys heard about the new boy?" Asia, one of the younger Huntresses asked, disdain clear in her voice.

Phoebe scowled. "I saw him; he was in my class. Seems just like the _men_ from Triton's group." She said 'men' like it's the worst thing ever, which, to the Hunters, it is.

At that moment, Artemis felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to find boy with black hair swept into spikes and skin the color like wheat, reminding her unpleasantly of Demeter.

"Hello," the Huntress smiled pleasantly. "You must be the newbie I've heard of."

The new boy laughed. "Charming, aren't you? Do you want to go out sometime?"

Artemis stood up and turned to face him. "Close your eyes honey," she said, at the same time feeling sick in the stomach.

She wrapped her arms around the boy and drew his face closer to her. From the corner of her eye, she could see the other Hunters stiffen. The locker area was silent as everybody watched the 'eternal maiden' stand on tip-toes to kiss the new boy, a boy she met not 5 minutes ago.

But then, at the last moment, when their lips are less than an inch apart, Artemis suddenly kneed him in the stomach, back up one step, and punched him in the face.

"First of all," Artemis snarled, "I am 12; not yet dating age. And second of all, _newbie_, no one, and I mean _no one_ messes with the Hunters, understood?"

Unfortunately, the boy is now unconscious.

The other Hunters cheered as Artemis sat back down, feeling in a even better mood.

"Sweet," Phoebe cheered. "That's a new trick!"

"In your face!" another Hunter shouted at the unconscious boy.

Artemis smiled. Nothing could lift up your spirit more than beating up a boy.

**Θνητός** **αθάτοι**

"Okay, peeps, listen up," a group of boys are currently hiding behind a large bush, whispering to each other, planning a world domination. "Okay, you know the plan. Since I'm the quickest, I'll be the one to run and pull the alarm. The rest of you…" he couldn't help grinning.

The boys nodded, eyes bright with anticipation.

At that moment, the bell rang, and all of them hurried off to their classes.

The only class all 5 boys have together was Science, taught by a strict woman named Mrs. Clio.

Today, they were going to the lab to do something with melting wax. Perfect, since melting wax needs fire…

Class was going smoothly for a while before suddenly one of Hermes's friend lit his piece of wax on fire and holding it at an arm's distance with those pincer things, ran to the front of the room, showing it to Mrs. Clio.

"Look, Mrs. Clio!" he shouted. "It's on fire!" and then he 'accidently' dropped it right on top of her books, setting them on fire.

Mrs. Clio shrieked while trying to bat out the flames and Hermes ran to pull the fire alarm. Soon, the whole school was gathered outside with the exception of Hermes and his 4 friends.

They were in the lab, chuckling mischievously as they put out the small fire and high fived.

"Wait till I tell my siblings!" Hermes said, delighted.

"Tell us what?" A voice sounded at the doorway of the lab. They turned to find Athena standing there, feet planted onto the ground and hands on her hips, her stormy gray eyes narrowed at the boys.

Hermes gulped. There was a reason he never told his pranks at school to Athena; she disapprove of him breaking rules and can be extremely scary.

"Tell you… that we were melting wax today in class?" he suggested in a small voice. _'Wow,'_ he thought bitterly. _'That had to be the worst lie I've ever told in my life. Though it's not exactly considered a lie…'_

"So," Athena said, her voice pleasant enough, "I believe this is your doing?"

Hermes thinks he nodded.

"Thank you so much!" his half sister exclaimed, thoroughly confusing him. "We were about to have a Chemistry test and I thought I failed it! Now I'll have more time to study"

_'That's impossible,'_ a part of Hermes's mind muttered but his mouth stammered, "Y-your welcome?"

Athena ruffled his hair before leaving.

Hermes turned to his friends. "Did Athena just compliment me for breaking rules or am I dreaming?

**Please Review!**


	3. Family Reunion

**III**

For some strange reason, the Olympians had decided to let December 24th be the family reunion. It makes sense since Christmas is right after and everyone would be at Olympus (Zeus's mansion).

And so today, December 24th, the whole family is gathered in the living room, the adults chatting, greeting each other, the children playing, punching each other… Yes, extremely noisy.

However, the Olympian family isn't actually very big.

There was Zeus, chatting with his brother Poseidon with a very annoyed expression, who had an arm around his wife, Amphitrite, a pretty woman with black hair and blue-grey eyes. Her personality was cold, kind of like a royalty, and is extremely proud, letting her get along well with Hera, who has a similar personality. She was currently chatting with Hera and Persephone.

Hades was talking with Hestia in hushed tones, obviously discussing about _that_.

Demeter was lecturing Triton about cereal, who was talking to Ares about a video game, who was trying to bully his brother Hephaestus into talking, who was sitting there, tinkering on something in his hand, ignoring Ares, and solely wishing that Aphrodite was here.

Hermes was sticking pencils up an asleep (or you could say drunk) Dionysus's nostrils, while planning his next prank.

Athena and Hebe were chatting pleasantly about the physics of science, which switched to something in math, then literature, then economics, then laws…

Apollo was losing miserably against Artemis in chess.

"Dinner is ready!" Iris announced cheerfully, arriving at the doorway.

"YES!" most of the kids shot up and raced to the dining room with the exception of Dionysus, Hebe, and Athena. The adults also made their way to the dining room.

Dinner was noisy, with the extra chatter and clanging of plates and utensils. More than once Dionysus face-planted into his food, drunk, and more than 5 times, the children started a food fight. By the end of the 3 hour long dinner, the adults were so tired they could fall asleep right there and the children are so hyped up that even Dionysus stopped drinking and tried to stay awake, going to the bathroom frequently to flush out the alcohol in his system; Hephaestus started talking, and Athena and Hebe had lost their usually cool mask. It was chaos, just like every year, and not to mention that Triton was living up his name of the most annoying family member (now won 9 years in a row. He was re-voted again just this morning).

They gathered once again in the living room. It was only 9.

Adults settled themselves on coaches and sofas while kids sat or sprawled on the carpeted floor.

A few awkward minutes passed.

"Tag, you're it!" Hermes shouted out Dionysus, who was relaxing on the floor. Dionysus shot up, his eyes wild and tagged the nearest person- Hebe.

"Why me?" the usually quiet girl wailed before chasing after Apollo. Everybody scattered.

After half an hour, the children were once again in the living room, panting and gasping for breath, chuckling occasionally.

"Now what?" Artemis asked.

"Hide and Seek!" Hermes shrieked and everyone scattered again, searching for places to hide, except for Athena, who wasn't exactly paying attention to her surroundings at that moment.

"Whaaah?" Athena sat up, looking around confused. But her fast clicking mind soon put together the pieces. _Sound of laughing+ all the children disappearing= Hide and Seek._

Much to her own surprise, Athena began counting.

Hide and Seek ended quite quickly considering the fact that Athena was extremely smart and had calculated all the likely places her siblings and cousin were hiding. Then, Ares and Triton, being the sore losers they are, started taunting Athena, angering her and currently, both of them are sitting beside their parents, trying to stop the blood flowing out of their noses.

Athena was watching them out of the corner of her eye while reading a book, feeling extremely proud of herself.

The other kids are in the biggest guest room, playing blind mice.

**Θνητός** **αθάτοι**

The room was completely silent, save for a few giggles now and then and the shuffles of movement.

Artemis stood in the middle of the room, eyes closed, breath held as she listened for any clues of the location of her siblings. Artemis hates to admit it, since it's childish, but she enjoys playing Blind Mice. Her ears are the keenest and clearest in the whole family. She had gone hunting many times before and always came home successful. Her ears always manage to pick up the smallest shuffles and intakes of breath.

Suddenly, coming from her right was a low hiss, hardly audible. "Ow!" Hermes hissed. "Dionysus, you're stepping on my feet!"

Artemis mentally grinned but pretended not to hear. _'Aha…'_

There was another grunt as Dionysus moved himself and the slight sound of shuffling feet. The bed creaked behind her and somebody accidently knocked a remote control off the TV counter.

Artemis really grinned this time. _'That's everyone.'_

Suddenly, she lunged towards where Hermes and Dionysus were hiding. The two boys screamed and scurried out of reach. Apparently Dionysus knocked over Apollo because there was a loud thud and someone yelled, "OW!" then let out a string of curse words.

Somebody snorted behind Artemis, causing the girl to freeze. She mentally planned out the room in her head.

_'Door on the left,'_ she thought_. 'Apollo, Dionysus, and Hermes at right corner. That leaves Hebe…'_

Artemis spun around with almost inhuman speed and leapt towards the bed where Hebe was hiding in the darkness.

There was a yelp and Artemis's hand brushed Hebe's shoulder. Triumphant, Artemis opened her eyes, seeing a slightly embarrassed-looking Hebe.

"What?" asked Artemis.

"I just think I'm so stupid," Hebe explained, smiling embarrassedly. "Hiding on the bed, I mean."

The other girl just shrugged. "It's fine; who cares? You're it!"

Hebe started on the left corner, nearest to the door and began counting.

"One, two three…"

Suddenly, Hera's voice called from downstairs. "Children! It's getting late! Get washed up and go to bed!"

Sighing, Apollo switched on the light switch. Squinting against the sudden brightness, he asked, "What time is it?"

"Check your watch, idiot," his twin sister replied.

"Right." Apollo checked it and was shocked. "Dude! It's 12!"

"Seriously?" Hermes asked.

"I still want to play," Dionysus was about to say when he was cut off by a large yawn. "I'm not tired," he tried again, but another yawn cut him off.

Hebe shrugged. "We don't have much of a choice. You know how mom is when she's mad. She's like the insane version of Demeter."

"Do you mean the _more_ insane version of Demeter?" Artemis asked innocently.

Hebe stared at Artemis, shock and disbelief evident on her face. "How did you know that?"

The kids laughed. Then, Athena shouted, "And Iris made midnight snacks so if you want any, come down right now!"

The children ran for their lives.

**Θνητός** **αθάτοι**

After the children had went to bed, the adults gathered once again in the living room. Hades and Hestia had called them here.

Suppressing yawns, everyone sat down as Hades began to speak.

"Hestia has done some research and investigation and had found a possibility of where Melinoe had disappeared to."

"Why should we be listening to this when it's about your daughter, Hades?" Poseidon asked, crossing his arms.

"Because," the eldest Olympian brother said coldly, "it might be the same for Kymopoleia."

Poseidon and Amphitrite's eyes widened.

Kymopoleia was their daughter, two years younger than Triton, a slim, pretty girl with black hair and light gray eyes. Her personality had always been distant and cold, even to her parents, and often spends nights at her friend's house.

Then, one night, 5 years ago, when she was nine, she went out to buy groceries and never came back. Disappeared, just like that.

Two years later, Melinoe, Hades and Persephone's daughter also disappeared. Vanished off the face of the Earth.

"Hestia came up with only one possibility," Hades continued. "One word, Firestorm."

The whole room went completely silent with shock and horror. Hades grimaced at the tenseness of the room.

"A-are you sure, Hades?" Poseidon asked shakily, pale beyond imagine.

Because everyone knows Firestorm. Well, not everyone but people with a lot of knowledge of things like these kind of things does. And the Olympians are one of these people.

Firestorm was a terrorist organization, one of the biggest and most powerful ones in the world. They smuggled drugs, weapons, etc, grew to be so big basically every country has a Firestorm Institute. But worst of all, they trained to become professional killers, assassins that fought and protected their organization.

"Firestorm…" Demeter murmured.

"Wait a second, do you mean they were killed off by Firestorm or they were captured?" Persephone asked.

"We don't know," Hestia stood up. "Though I would assume they were captured. Both Melinoe and Kymopoleia had showed a great liking of the Martial Arts and were talented at it. Firestorm might've had their eyes on them to make them an assassin."

"So my daughter's going to become a killer?" Amphitrite was horrified.

Hestia shrugged. "Likely. But if my research deems correct, they could also become Scientists or Technicians. If Athena were to be captured, I'm sure she'd be interested in that category."

"Interested?" Hera asked disbelievingly. "Interested? You speak of this like it's going to college or something!"

Hestia didn't say anything.

"Calm down, Hera," Demeter said sadly.

"Anyways," Hades said. "I think we should go rest. It's been a long day and the news wasn't exactly pleasant. Get some sleep, everybody."

Persephone was the first to stand up. "Hell knows I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight," she murmured sadly before leaving for the guest room she's staying in with her husband.

One by one, the group of adults dispersed, until only one person remained.

Hestia looked out the window at the full moon. "Please stay alive," she prayed silently before going to rest as well.

**Θνητός** **αθάτοι**

Athena sprinted quietly back to her room, her heart thumping against her chest. She had heard the adults' conversation.

Firestorm…

When she was younger, Athena had always been fascinated by Firestorm. Not fascinated as in _'I'd-love-to-join'_ fascination but more like _'I-want-to-learn-all-about-it'_ fascination.

However, she knows little to nothing about Firestorm.

But despite her lack of knowledge (which frustrates her greatly) of the terrorist organization, she knows one thing.

When Firestorm takes something from you, you're never getting it back.


	4. Gone

**VI**

"WAKE UP!" Hermes shouted, effectively waking up the whole house.

"What the heck?" asked Artemis groggily as she raised her head slightly from her pillow.

"SHUT UP!" Ares and Triton roared from their rooms.

"Hermes!" the boy's parents (parent. His father is Zeus but his mother isn't Hera) shouted.

"Stupid, insolent, ignorant…" Athena growled, lying back down and closing her eyes.

Dionysus raised his head ever so slightly, opened an eye, and then went immediately back to sleep.

"Hello!" Hestia called cheerfully.

Then, Demeter appeared. "The boy is right, people. Wake up! It's Christmas!"

"I have a name!"

"Everybody, listen to the boy and WAKE UP!"

"I HAVE A NAME!"

After an hour of groaning and complaining, Hermes and Demeter managed to haul everybody out of bed. All the kids, that is. The adults woke by themselves.

"Unbelievably," Persephone said quietly at breakfast, sipping a cup of coffee, "I fell asleep last night."

"You were tired, dear," Hades put a hand around her shoulders.

"Why is that unbelievable?" Apollo asked blankly.

"DAD!" Dionysus hollered from the kitchen. "WHERE DID YOU HIDE THE WINE?"

Zeus ignored him and said to his other children. "You have to finish your breakfast before you may go get your presents, understood?"

His children heard him, but pretended to ignore him.

Hermes, quickest as usual, finished up first and ran to get his presents. Apollo was the second but when he went to search under the Christmas tree, he exclaimed, "I don't have any presents!"

"Nothing?" asked Artemis, following her twin into the living room.

"Nothing," Apollo confirmed. What the twins didn't notice was Hermes, sitting behind the coach, chuckling deviously.

Artemis started searching and successfully found 12 boxes with her name on it. She smirked and wriggled her eyebrows at her unfortunate twin.

"Did everyone decide to gang up against me and not get me any presents this year?" Apollo complained. At this, there was suddenly a snort from behind the coach. Piecing together the puzzle, the younger twin realized what Hermes had done.

"Hermes, give it back!" he shouted, lunging at the coach. Hermes shot out, incredibly quick, a bunch of boxes in his arms and sprinted upstairs.

"GET BACK YOU LITTLE SON OF A-"

"Language!" Demeter shouted from the dining room.

"-WITCH! DAMN YOU TO HELL! FU-"

"Apollo!"

"-DGE YOU! GIVE THE GODDAMNED PRESENTS BACK!"

"It's just a few presents," Athena sighed.

"A few presents?" Apollo asked disbelievingly. "That was all of my presents!"

Ares rolled his eyes when he came in. Triton followed him shortly, grinning widely. "Though I have to say I'm impressed when you manage to change the swear words at a split second notice."

Hebe nodded. "Apollo's quick," she murmured. "But Hermes is quicker."

Apollo scowled.

The rest of the children gathered and began opening their presents while Apollo slumped on the coach, scowling, with his arms crossed in front of him. When Hestia came in and saw his defeated, annoyed look, she sighed sadly.

"Hermes!" Hestia called. "Please bring your brother's presents down."

After a minute of two, Hermes finally emerged, carrying a bunch of presents. He handed it back to Apollo.

"Apologize," Hestia demanded.

"Sorry, Apollo," Hermes mumbled.

For the umpteenth time starting from 6 years ago, Apollo and the others wondered why Hermes was always so obedient to their nicest aunt.

They have a feeling they'll never find out.

"It's snowing!" Hebe suddenly shouted from beside the window. All the children went up to see.

"The storm's becoming bigger," Athena noticed. "At this rate there'd be enough snow for us to have a snowball fight by noon."

Ares and Triton rubbed their hands together in anticipation, their eyes gleaming hungrily and evilly. They exchanged glances that said, _'Oh, we are definitely slaughtering this lot of children.'_

Athena, observant as usual, gave the two boys a warning glare before going upstairs to her room to read.

Artemis and Apollo began having a dart throwing contest, the two of them tying, much to their displeasure.

Ares and Triton went back to Ares' room to play video games or talk about comics.

Hephaestus and Hermes were setting up traps around the house, mimicking _Home Alone 5_.

The adults were mostly still at the dining room, save for Hestia and Demeter, talking in hushed voices about _that_.

**Θνητός** **αθάτοι**

Hades shuffled a few papers. "Yesterday night I did some research about Firestorm's history," he said. "Apparently it was started sometime after World War 2, though that might not be accurate. After all, during the two world wars, the world was in chaos and things like this might not actually be noticed. Not only that, Firestorm would've been extremely weak if it existed during the world wars."

"Something I also found out is that Firestorm's training system is very brutal and strict and you could die during training."

Hera sucked in a breath.

"Also, Firestorm was the one that trained the World's Most Wanted Assassin: Anastasia Jaden."

"The _World's_?" Amphitrite asked in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"

Hades shook his head. "Best fighter ever known in history. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration but some people say she would be able to take down a whole army by herself."

Poseidon took a few deep breaths. "So my daughter is going to become a dangerous person?"

"I doubt she's _going to_, Poseidon. She's disappeared for 5 years, officially announced dead. I think she already is dangerous. But again, we're not sure. She might've died, or she's just going to be another one of Firestorm's thousands of assassins. You have to be _really_ good to be recognized," Hades said.

"But what about Anastasia Jaden?" Zeus asked, leaning back on the chair and crossing his arms. "Why did you mention her?"

"Well, Jaden was a good fighter, obviously, but 3 years ago, she was captured by the GIS."

The GIS was the counterpart of Firestorm. But unlike Firestorm, GIS is extremely naïve and stupid, giving them zero to negative chances of defeating Firestorm.

"But the GIS is stupid!" protested Persephone. "How did they possibly capture her?"

"I don't know," her husband admitted. "I had an insight about it but it seemed absurd."

"If the girl was captured 3 years ago," Zeus pointed out, "shouldn't she already be executed by now?"

Hades shrugged. "I have no idea what had happened to her."

"What point are you trying to make here, brother?" Poseidon asked.

"The point I'm trying to make is that if Jaden was so powerful, then the others might be similar."

"But Jaden was special, wasn't she? She's the World's Most Wanted Assassin!" Poseidon protested.

"However," Hades said coolly, "even though she's the World's Most Wanted, there is someone more powerful that her."

"Who?" asked Persephone.

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it? The head of Firestorm! If Anastasia is the best in the world, then she could take over Firestorm! But she didn't! So that means the head of Firestorm is even more powerful!"

"So?"

"Okay," Hades said, annoyed. "Let's say the head of Firestorm's abilities are 100% and Anastasia Jaden is 99 or 98%, other Firestorm fighters would be 50 to 96%. The GIS, however, their average abilities are 20 to 45%. We have no hope of getting our daughters back even if we call on the police or the GIS!"

"But if they try to escape…" Poseidon pointed out weakly.

"They'll be killed," Hades replied immediately. "And that might not be happening. Firestorm assassins could be quite loyal."

"Don't they have their own families to think about?" Hera asked.

Hades sighed. "Well, that's the problem. Either Firestorm takes their siblings and kills the parents or they killed them all."

**Θνητός** **αθάτοι**

"THAT IS STUPID," Artemis said, fuming.

"It's the truth, _dear sister_," Apollo growled back, adding extra sarcasm and venom in 'dear sister'.

"So?" Artemis demanded. "Just because mom-"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MOM!" Apollo shouted.

Artemis narrowed her silver eyes, which was flashing dangerously. "And why not? She is as much as my mom as she is yours, Apollo. If-"

"Because," Apollo growled. "If it wasn't for you, she would've still been alive!"

Artemis froze and her eyes widened in shock.

Hermes, Hebe, Athena, Ares and even Triton gasped. That was pushed way out of her borders.

Silence, tenseness and hostility filled the room, making it so thick the others could've cut it with a knife.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, Artemis whipped out a knife, which she sliced toward her younger twin brother. Hebe screamed, while Apollo dodged narrowly, the knife just nicking his face. Then, his sister threw it at him, but out of fury, she missed (narrowly) and then Artemis stormed (quite literally) out the house.

They heard the backdoor slam shut before the living room settled into silence.

"What was going on here?" Hestia suddenly appeared. She noticed the cut on Apollo's face and the knife laying a few meters away from him.

Her eyes widened. "What did you do, Apollo?"

Apollo didn't say anything, just glared at the knife.

"Apollo," Hestia said in a stern voice. "Look at me. Tell me what happened."

Apollo obeyed, though he didn't talk. It truly feels strange to stare at a seven year old (or somebody who looks seven years old) and know that she has more power over you than your siblings that look 16.

"We were playing darts," Apollo said bitterly. "And started arguing about who won. Then, I-I said…" He trailed off.

"He accused Artemis of the death of their mother," Athena finished for him.

Hestia sighed. "I wasn't talking to you Athena but its fine. Apollo, who started the argument?"

"She did," the younger twin said almost confidently. "She was a sore loser."

Hestia raised an eyebrow and then turned to the other children. "Is that true?"

The others hesitated for a moment. "Well," Hebe said thoughtfully. "It's half true. Artemis lost but she wasn't a sore loser…"

Before the others could say anything else, Hestia said, "I thought so. It didn't seem like Artemis to be sore loser. Apollo, did you taunt her?"

Shamefully, Apollo lowered his gaze and nodded slightly. His aunt sighed. "So technically it was your fault. Shouldn't you go after her and apologize?"

Apollo's head snapped up. "But it's not my fault!" he raged. "She-"

Athena rolled her eyes. _'We just confirmed that it was your fault…'_

"Who made Artemis mad and storm out?" Hestia cut Apollo off.

"Me," he grumbled.

"Who won yet taunted her for losing?"

"Me."

"Right," Hestia said cheerfully. "Why don't you go and apologize? Do me a favor and call her in. its cold and snowing outside and I think Iris and your Aunt Demeter is making hot chocolate!"

Apollo nodded and gave her a small, abashed smile before sprinting out, grabbing his jacket along the way.

Iris brought out a tray with cups of hot chocolate, marshmallows and biscuits, and the children began stuffing themselves as they awaited the return of the twins.

But they never came back.

**Right! Could you guys please review? Just because I'm trying and almost succeeding in updating everyday doesn't mean I don't appreciate reviews!**


	5. Revenge and Luck

**So sorry for the long wait. There were quite a few problems, as my dear friend had so kindly announced to the world. But I'm back! And I've decided to reward you all with... 2 chapters!**

**V**

Artemis was the first to wake, only to find herself in a plane, the droning of the airplane seeming deafening now that she's awake.

To her shock, she found herself tied up, with Apollo next to her, still drooling in his sleep.

"Apollo!" Artemis hissed.

No reaction.

"Apollo!" Artemis hissed again, this time louder, leaning forward to shout next to his ear.

"Wha-?" her younger twin cracked opens an eye and drowsily took in their surroundings. "Okay, that's nice. Wake me up later, Arte- Wait a second, where the hell are we?"

If Artemis's hands were free, she would've face-palmed.

"Somewhere," she replied, looking around one more time.

"What happened?"

"I don't know…" And suddenly, the memories flooded back to her.

**στριμμένα**

_ Artemis had gone hunting after she stormed out, since hunting always seems to calm her down. She had caught two squirrels and a rabbit and is currently tracking a deer when she heard Apollo's voice shout, "Artemis!"_

_ Still pissed off at him, she decided to ignored him._

_ "Artemis, wait up!" _

_ To Artemis's annoyance, his voice had scared away the deer._

_ "What is it?" she snapped._

_ Apollo flinched and stopped in front of her, withering under her sharp glare. He looked away and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand._

_ "Um, I just want to say that I'm sorry…" he mumbled sheepishly._

_ "What?" _

_ "I'm sorry?" he said louder this time._

_ "Pardon but I can't hear you," Artemis said loudly, leaning forward as if trying to listen to him, "Can you repeat that one more time?"_

_ "I'm sorry, okay? Geez," Apollo scowled at her._

_ Artemis tutted. "That wasn't very sincere, my dear. Let's try that one more time, shall we?"_

_ Apollo turned red as he opened his mouth to say, "I'm-"_

_ The world blacked out._

**στριμμένα**

"So we're kidnapped?" Apollo asked.

Artemis thought about it, then agreed, since that seems like the only answer right now.

"I feel so stiff, how long have we been here like this?" the younger twin whined.

Artemis shrugged.

"You know what," Apollo huffed, annoyed, "I'm just going to go back to sleep. That should distract me from my pain." And he promptly fell asleep.

Artemis rolled her eyes, then leaned back against a wooden crate. She thought about her family and how they might be panicking right now. Maybe they had even called the police already.

But somehow, she knew that it's useless. She has a feeling that they'll never find her, and they'll never see each other again.

The mere thought makes her want to cry, but against the steady droning of the plane, her eyelids slid shut, and once again, she fell asleep.

**στριμμένα**

It was hate at first sight.

The moment Nemesis and Tyche saw each other, they knew that they would hate each other completely, right down to the hairs of their arms.

Nemesis was a pale, skinny girl with short, curly black hair and black eyes.

Tyche was tall and healthy-looking, with mesmerizing, wavy, reddish blondish brown hair and eyes the color of new-grown leaves in the spring.

Nemesis was cold and short-tempered and extremely negative.

Tyche was quiet and cheerful and so positive it's annoying.

Ever since they were taken by Firestorm 7 years ago, they had been competing. Both of them were the top of their year, tying every time with full marks and not to mention the bonus points. Both of them had managed to beat up somebody twice their size, age, and experience two years after they were taken. Both of them had gone on exactly 86 missions, each completing their task swiftly and dutifully.

Their hatred for each other was so obvious and intense that Firestorm codenamed them Revenge and Luck. Not exactly opposites but they clash well enough.

Then, to their utter disgust, Scorch had decided to let the two of them go escort the newbies and show them around.

So now the two of them were walking towards the private plane of Firestorm's, with a large gap between them so they could walk as far away from each other as possible. The gap was exactly 7 meters, 1 foot, and 7 inches. The only trait the two of them share is that they're both perfectionists.

To their displeasure, they had to come closer to each other to fit in the plane.

"Stand up!" Nemesis barked the moment she entered the plane.

"Don't be so harsh!" Tyche snapped at her. Tyche could be nice but she had forever been cold to Nemesis.

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"You-"

"Weirdoes!" a loud voice shouted from the back of the plane where the shadows shielded everything from sight. "You just told us to stand up but how are we supposed to do that when we are tied up?"

Nemesis narrowed her eyes at the corner where the voice had come from. "Stand up."

"As I said before," the voice sounded thoroughly annoyed, "I can't. I'm tied up."

"Um, Artemis?" A boy's voice said nervously, "I don't think it's wise to anger them…"

"I don't care!" Artemis shouted. "They could be our kidnappers for all we know!"

"Which is why you shouldn't anger them," the boy muttered, though everyone still heard him.

"What?"

"Hey, did you ever notice that there are other people here?" the second voice asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

"Of course I did!" snapped Artemis. "It's your own fault you're not as observant!"

The boy's patience cracked so loudly you could almost hear it. "Well, I'm sorry for not being as dumbass as you!"

"What did you just call me?"

"Calm down!" Tyche shouted desperately while Nemesis cackled.

"Those two have guts," she chuckled.

Suddenly, there were a few loud thuds and a girl walked out of the shadows. She was tall and lean with auburn hair pulled back into a braid and cold, silvery gray eyes.

"What the heck, Arty? At least get me up as well!" the boy shouted.

"Get up yourself!" Artemis shouted over her shoulder. Then, to Tyche and Nemesis, she asked coldly, "So you're our kidnappers?"

Tyche shook her head frantically. "No, no. That's not us. I mean, we're here to bring you all to… a training center! And so… anyways, can you wait here? I have to get everybody up."

A few loud thuds later, the boy also walked out of the shadows. He must be siblings with Artemis, since they both have the tall and lean structure and similar jaw lines, though he had golden blonde hair and sky blue eyes.

Tyche began helping kids up while Nemesis stood usefully by the side, watching each kid intensely.

"So… where to?" Artemis's assumed brother asked.

"Somewhere," Nemesis answered. "Follow me."

The kids shuffled behind her, looking around. The airport was big, and the plane had landed in the most isolated part, almost completely out of sight. And worst of all, every camera they pass seem to be already disabled, hanging on a single strand of half-cut wire.

After walking around for some time, Nemesis suddenly halted in the middle of a patch of yellowing grass. The kidnapped children looked around in confusion.

Then, the dark haired teenager whipped out a knife and stabbed it into the ground, twisting it violently. There was a loud click like a lock and the ground began rumbling.

"What the hell?" Artemis asked before the ground suddenly seemingly disappeared and the kids fell screaming, while Nemesis and Tyche turned gracefully in the air. Artemis and Apollo seem to be the only calm ones other than archenemies and had curled into a ball, just in case.

Then, suddenly, there was a very loud _Boing!_ as everybody slammed into a trampoline like thing. When everybody climbed out, Nemesis and Tyche freed everybody and they began walking down a long dark tunnel.

The tunnel ended at a large, heavy-looking, metal door, which Nemesis swiped a card at the card slot. The metal door swung open as if it weighs nothing.

They had arrived at a huge room with white tiles and weapons hanging off the walls. A single white light lit the room and there was a coffee maker and a little refrigerator at the corner.

Nemesis and Tyche didn't stop, however. They crossed the room and opened the wooden door on the other side, leading to a dimly lit room with a wrestling ring in the center and weapons lining the walls and perched on shelves.

Smiling at the children's shocked looks, Nemesis and Tyche did something they had sworn they would never do. They spoke in _unison_, "Welcome to Firestorm!"


	6. Welcome to Firestorm

**VI**

Artemis had never felt so annoyed. Seriously, this is plain stupid! She's taken archery and karate classes and none of the training or warm-ups were _this_ stupid!

Why? Because somebody just told her that the first thing they'll be doing is _walking on a treadmill_. Artemis is thoroughly offended.

After they had entered the last room, their kidnappers told them to sit around the wrestling ring. Then, they leapt into the air, impossibly high, did a somersault and landed in perfect unison in the center of the ring, standing side by side. Suddenly, they realized how close they were standing (about one meter apart) and yelped, then scrambled less gracefully to opposite sides of the ring. And then they gave each other the stink eye. Wow, they must really hate each other.

Artemis rolled her eyes. So this is the infamous Firestorm? Are all the people so immature? Because if so, Artemis would be able to trick her way out.

"Anyways," the girl with short, curly black hair started, "this is Firestorm, and we are going to train you!"

The girl with wavy, reddish, blondish brown hair sneered at the other girl. "Wow, Nemesis, that was so lame. Watch me."

She walked up to the children outside the wrestling ring with a welcoming, sweet smile that didn't fit the surroundings at all. "Hello, young recruits; welcome to Firestorm! I am your trainer Tyche, codenamed Luck, and that is _Nemesis_," she spat out the name as if it's the worst insult in the world. Which, to her, probably is. "She's also your trainer, but don't mind her. She's a git."

Nemesis growled. Tyche ignored her and continued, "Since it's already late, I will show you your resting areas. The training would begin tomorrow."

Now, Nemesis stepped forward, shoving Tyche out of the way. "Listen up, kiddoes. You guys are expected at the Mess Hall at 5:15 for breakfast. Training till 12, Lunch, Indoor Classes till 4, training again till 6, Dinner, and there's a night session when you return to your dorms. However, there are also chores, which will be posted on a bulletin board."

"There are also activities," Tyche piped up. "Very fun activities! Very competitive too; and don't forget that there'll be consequences for the losing team. Now chop-chop! I'll show you your dorms. Anymore questions before you all go get a good night's sleep?"

"Umm… What about our families?" a young girl asked in a small voice. She was only eight and seemed so scared that Artemis couldn't help feeling a pang of pity for her.

Nemesis smirked at the question and leaned forward as if about to tell a secret. "Well, kiddoes, let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, when Firestorm had just began, there was a young assassin of Firestorm. Oh, she was a fine fighter; the best in the academy since the age of 7! No one knows her real name, but she was codenamed Phantom."

"Now, little Phantom's family had died long before she came to Firestorm, so she thought Firestorm as her family and was loyal to it. However, one day, she found out that her Grandpa was still alive. Her real blood-and-flesh family! So, very stupidly, she betrayed Firestorm, the family that brought her up, and left for her Grandpa, who didn't even know she exists."

The room was silent as Nemesis continued dramatically, "And you know what happened? They put a bullet in her Grandpa's head, and killed her as well. The End!"

Tyche sighed. "What she was trying to say was, stay loyal to Firestorm, your family stays safe."

"Now, little Lucky," the shorter girl interrupted, "I've told them the classic Firestorm bedtime story. You go show the weaklings their dorms."

Tyche snarled at Nemesis before leaping out the wrestling ring, beckoning for the recruits to follow.

The dorms were plain, and unpleasantly public. A single room and everybody was squeezed inside. At least the boys and girls were separated.

Artemis slumped down on her small, creaky bed. Seems like she and Apollo had just joined the Olympian list of missing children…

**στριμμένα**

Apollo woke when he heard people around him start bustling around. Well, to be more exact, he became more awake. He didn't sleep for the whole night. Yes, that wasn't a good idea and would probably come back to bite him in the butt later but he's in an unknown place, with his family probably panicking somewhere in the world. Wow, he doesn't even know the _country_ he's currently in. And the mattress was stiff, unlike his soft one at home, making it rather hard to fall asleep.

One by one, they took turns for the bathroom, each having less than one and a half minutes. You literally just step into the shower, step out, then brush your teeth, and dress.

They arrived at the Mess Hall at 5:14, meeting up with the girls. For breakfast, they had very unappetizing stew; basically just rice soaked in water and boiled. It was mushy and tasteless and left Apollo hungrier than before, though that could just be his imagination.

And now, training, the thing Apollo had been dreading. According to some people that were already there, the training was very harsh and tiring, though also very effective. Yup, and today… they are walking on treadmills!

Apollo and Artemis walked side by side, wondering what the heck Firestorm was thinking. They had spent time discussing what their training would be like, but it certainly wasn't this. Gymnastics? Maybe, considering Nemesis and Tyche's gracefulness. But treadmills? Yeah… no.

"This is thoroughly and utterly stupid," Apollo's twin grumbled.

However, a girl next to them grimaced. "Oh, you have no idea," she said while shaking her head, her long black ponytail flying around her head. She was pale, and looked coldly at the twins with reddish brown orbs before jogging away.

"Does she mean that we have no idea how stupid and boring this is or what?" Artemis asked, obviously irritated at the rude girl.

"She meant you have no idea how harsh this place could be. Well, not yet, anyways," a girl around the age of ten with brown hair and eyes skipped up to the twins. "Don't mind her. She could be a real sourpuss sometimes."

"How harsh is it?" Apollo asked the girl. She just shook her head.

"I'm Ariadne, by the way. Came here 'bout a week before you guys. That was Eris," Ariadne shook their hands cheerfully.

Suddenly, the treadmill lurched and started to turn faster, causing everyone to start jogging.

"Do you have any family?" Ariadne asked.

Artemis looked at her strangely. "Of course we do! Why wouldn't we?"

The younger girl looked away sadly. "I used to live with my parents and my older sister in a small village in Mexico. I'm not Mexican but Daddy moved us there for his work. Then, one day, Firestorm took Phaedra and me away when we were going to the supermarket. Phaedra tried to fight them and managed to knock one of them out since she learns Karate before they…" her voice cracked and she didn't continue; But she didn't need to. Artemis and Apollo know what she was trying to say.

_ 'Phaedra was killed.'_

Ariadne rubbed her eyes before saying, "Eris came here around the same time as I did. She may seem bitter, maybe a bit mean, but she's actually pretty nice."

"Does she have any family?" it still feels weird to ask that question.

Ariadne nodded. "Three older brothers, I think. Charon and Thanatos, they're twins, and Hypnos."

Eris suddenly appeared next to them, looking gloomy as ever. "I heard my name. Are you guys talking about me behind my back?"

"N-" Artemis was about to deny when Ariadne piped up, "Of course! I was just telling them about your brothers!"

Artemis gave the younger girl another strange look.

Eris sighed. "Charon, Thanatos and Hypnos… I kinda miss them, however annoying they may be."

"Wait a second," Apollo interrupted. "Charon and Thanatos? Like those people who works for Uncle Hades?"

Artemis looked surprised. "So that's why they sounded familiar."

"Hades Olympia?" Eris asked. When the twins nodded, she said, "Yup, them, I believe. You guys are Olympians?"

The twins nodded again and Apollo started singing 'It's a Small World After All'.

"So many Olympians," sighed Eris.

"What do you mean?" Artemis was slightly offended.

Eris just shook her head and jogged away again.

"She meant, 'You'll see'," Ariadne translated.

Suddenly, the treadmill lurched again and spun faster and faster and soon, everyone was running for their lives. Maybe not literally but no one wants to fall. You never know what the consequence might be.

Then, Ariadne, being younger and shorter, suddenly slipped and fell to the ground with a loud, painful thud. Artemis winced, knowing that the young girl would soon be covered in bruises.

Tyche and Nemesis had been sent on a mission (different ones, to their relief) and the substitute trainers were a woman with blondish brown hair and hazel eyes named Tethys and another, younger looking pale, slim woman with curly, reddish brown hair braided down her back, cold blue eyes. Her name was Phoebe.

Strangely, the name doesn't sound intimidating at all, unlike how she looks at you. Being watched by her was like being dunked into a tub filled ice-cold water. Several times.

Phoebe walked up to the fallen girl, staring her down. Ariadne looks like she's on the verge of tears, which confused Artemis and Apollo. Falling couldn't be that bad, could it?

"Name?" the intimidating trainer asked.

"Ariadne," the young girl said in a small voice.

"I believe this isn't your first time falling?"

Ariadne shook her head fearfully.

Phoebe nodded and gestured with a flick of her wrist. "Come with me."

Shakily, the fallen girl got to her feet and followed the trainer to a room across the room.

"Don't be too hard on her!" Tethys called after Phoebe, who ignored her.

For a moment, there was silence.

And then suddenly, there was a loud crack and a scream pierced through the air, causing many people to flinch and almost fall down. Another crack, and another scream.

Apollo felt sick in the stomach and glancing at his sister, he knows that she's feeling horrified as well; her face was slightly green.

Eris, gloomier than ever, sprinted up to them and said sadly, "Welcome to Firestorm."

That sentence is now officially Apollo's least favorite phrase.

**στριμμένα**

They had ran until about half an hour after Ariadne was dragged out, bloody and limp, to the Infirmary. For a moment, Apollo had been scared that she had died, but then Phoebe pulled her to her feet and they began slowly making their way to the Infirmary. Apollo felt even worse.

When the treadmill finally jerked to a stop, Apollo's legs felt like it's made of jelly and he had to hold onto Artemis, who was only a little better than him, to walk. Everyone collapsed in front of the wrestling ring, where Tethys stood, waiting for Phoebe to return. A few minutes later, Phoebe walked in briskly, blood smeared on her clothes, followed by second years, third years, and fourth years. Everyone settled around the wrestling ring.

Apollo eyed the fourth years warily. They were all graceful and powerful looking, also very intimidating. It makes sense, since they're in the last year and would graduate very soon. One girl caught his eye. She was pretty, with pale skin and perfect curves. Her pure black hair was braided down her back, and her brown eyes were drained of warmth. Her pretty features were twisted into a sneer as she looked down at the lower years. Somehow, she still managed to look pretty.

For a moment, their eyes locked. Then the younger twin looked away, unable to meet the cold gaze.

"Okay," Tethys started cheerfully and awkwardly, clapping her hands together. "Erm… So, First Years, watch! I need two volunteers, best if you're from the Fourth Year…"

Phoebe randomly pointed at two Fourth Year kids and they made their way up to the wrestling ring. With a jolt, Apollo realized that the girl he had seen before was one of the two kids. The other was a boy with curly brown hair and small black eyes. He was muscular and would've seemed confident if he hadn't been wobbling on his feet like he's drunk.

The two Fourth Years stood about 2 meters apart, both sinking down into fighting stances.

Phoebe stood between them. "One…" she said, the tension filling the air.

"Two…"

"Three… Start!"

Phoebe leapt back and jumped out the ring with a graceful back flip. The two Fourth Years circled each other for a while, wary of each other, until the boy got impatient and charged the girl. He was surprisingly fast and graceful for someone so bulky.

However, the girl was even faster and far more graceful.

She dodged a flying fist, ducked under another, then sent her own punch towards him. However, it was blocked by a knee, which suddenly unfolded and kicked her in the stomach. The girl gasped but rolled away, out of the boys reach as she managed to catch her breath again as quickly as she could. The girl's expression had turned from impassive and bored, to furious and murderous. For a moment, no one moved. Then, with a flying leap, the girl charged.

Instead of slamming right into the boy, however, she soared past him and landed behind him gracefully, then aimed a kick at his head. The boy spun around and just barely managed to block it.

However, he didn't manage to block the next attack. The girl jumped up, and slammed her elbow into his skull. Though his arm had taken some of the impact, the boy was still bleeding pretty heavily. Blood covered his face and one of his arm was twisted in a strange angle.

Apollo started to feel sick all over again.

_'Damn,'_ the small part of his mind that wasn't frozen in shock, horror, and fright muttered. _'Just when I was starting to feel better too!'_

"Good," Phoebe praised the girl who raised her arms above her head in triumph while other Fourth Years carried the beaten boy to the Infirmary.

Wow. One day here and not even 3 hours into training and already two people are in the Infirmary.

"That was great, Khione," Tethys applauded. "Though next time please don't be so harsh on the poor boy. We don't want a assassin with concussion now, don't we?"

A few people chuckled but most stayed silent.

Khione rolled her eyes. "It's not like it'd make a difference."

"So true!" somebody called out.

The girl smirked.

"Now," Phoebe continued as if nothing had happened, "First Years now know what this is about, is it? So let's do a small experiment."

Around him, Apollo could feel people stiffen, though he himself was still confused. What's happening?

"You," Phoebe beckoned with a hand. "Come up. Let's see how you currently are. Without any training, that is."

To Apollo's horror, she was pointing at Artemis.

**στριμμένα**

Artemis nervously climbed into the wrestling ring, where Khione stood in all her ass-faced glory, smirking as if her life depends on it.

"So," Phoebe asked Artemis, "what do you know?"

"About fighting?" Artemis replied sarcastically. "Nothing, no thanks to you."

Tethys chuckled, mumbling, "This one's got guts."

Phoebe, however, decided to ignore the sarcasm. "Fine. Three…"

Khione dropped down into battle stance. Artemis studied her for half a second, then dropped into fighting stance as well, mirroring Khione's poise perfectly.

Phoebe raised an eyebrow.

"Two… One… Start."

Almost immediately, Khione attacked, though not as viciously and violently as she had when she was fighting the fellow Fourth Year. Artemis had managed to dodge many of the blows, thanks to her training of Tae Kwon Dou. She doesn't dare try to deflect the attacks or block it, since it's highly possible that Khione would hit hard enough to break her arm or something.

Suddenly, however, Khione kneed her in the stomach. When Artemis bent over, gasping for breath, the Fourth Year upper-cutted her. Her head snapped back and she stumbled back a few times, almost toppling out of balance. But she managed to catch herself.

Artemis crouched down, pretending to be in pain. Well, not really pretending; she really was in pain, but you get the idea. She's in pain, but she's also tense, ready to dodge or attack.

From her peripheral vision, she saw Khione kicking towards her and she suddenly stood up, punching Khione across the face. The force of the punch was also increased because Khione had swept her feet off the ground and she was punching the direction she was falling. Exactly as planned.

Khione growled, no longer smirking, instead, her features were twisted into a snarl and aimed another punch at the older twin. The fist came so quickly Artemis couldn't have possible dodged but suddenly, Phoebe called out, "Stop."

Khione stopped, her fist frozen in mid-punch, inches from Artemis's face.

"Not bad for a First Year," the strict trainer praised Artemis. "No one usually last that long."

"Artemis!" Apollo shouted from the crowds and from the corner of her eye, she could see her brother trying to reach the wrestling ring. When he finally climbed in, he began checking her for injuries.

"There's a bruise on your jaw."

"Of course there is, dummy. She upper-cutted me."

Apollo glared at Khione before turning back to his sister.

"Apollo, I'm fine! As much as I appreciate your healing genes, I doubt doctors are all that overprotective!"

"You're my sister!"

"As I said before, I'm fine!"

Tethys came up to the bickering twins and asked, "What are your names?"

Apollo and Artemis stopped arguing to look up at the trainer. "Artemis and Apollo Olympia," the older twin answered.

A hushed silence suddenly fell across the room. There were murmurs here and there amongst the crowd.

"Another Olympian?"

"Holy, they must be good…"

"What do you mean, another Olympian?" Artemis demanded.

Phoebe had seemed a little shocked, but she recovered quickly. "Somebody go find the others," she instructed. A few Fourth Years stood up and left.

"What's happening?" Apollo was confused.

"Somebody, explain!" Artemis shouted. But they were both ignored.

Then, the door opened and the Fourth Years who had left came back with 3 girls behind them.

The twin's mouths dropped open at the sight of them.

There was a skinny girl about the age of 15 with black hair and pale gray eyes who was twirling a knife in her hand.

"Kymopoleia?" Apollo choked out. The girl's mouth twitched into a small smile. "Twins."

"It's been 5 years since we've seen you!" Artemis exclaimed. The daughter of Poseidon Olympia just shrugged.

Another girl came up, also around 15. She was also extremely skinny, but much paler than Kymopoleia and instead of gray eyes, her eyes were pure black, just like her Father's.

"Melinoe!" Apollo sounded almost overjoyed.

"Long time no see," the daughter of Hades was as impassive and cold as ever.

Then, another person came up. A person Artemis and Apollo don't recognize. She was pale, though not deathly pale like Melinoe but pale enough. She has brown hair and familiar, electric blue eyes.

"Who are you?" Artemis asked cautiously. "I don't recognize you."

The girl sighed. "Of course you don't. I was gone before you guys were even born. My name is Eileithyia. Eileithyia Olympia.

** chocolatebackground: Does this sound like Firestorm? I wasn't so sure. Oh, and if you were wondering, I kind of... um... don't be mad at me, but I hacked into your email to see if you have any other useful information. Found that email from basiliskvenom or somebody about the Assistants. So... yeah, that explains Nemesis's 'bed-time story'.**


	7. The Final Test

**VII**

_ Hera smiled up at Zeus, then glanced back down at the beautiful baby in her arms. It was a girl. Another girl, and it would be just as beautiful as the other one. _

_ "What should we name her?" Hera asked Zeus softly as the baby waved her fists around and attempted to smile._

_ "How about…" Zeus thought for a moment, "Eileithyia."_

_ "Eileithyia Olympia," Hera said slowly, trying it out, then nodded in satisfaction. "Hello Ellie," she cooed at the baby girl in her arms, who grinned toothlessly up at her._

_ "It's sad I can't give birth anymore," Hera said sadly._

_ Zeus put an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, Hera. Four children… that's quite a lot already!"_

_ "She has your eyes," Hera said after a moment of silence. _

_ "Hebe has yours," Zeus replied._

_ Hera only chuckled slightly before dissolving into her husband's embrace._

**στριμμένα**

_ "WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!" Hera screamed, her fist banging on the broad chest of a policeman as Zeus gently tried to pull her away. Hephaestus, Ares, Athena, and Hebe stood on the side, watching with a fearful anticipation. _

_ "I am very sorry Ma'am," the police officer said, "but we could not find your daughter."_

_ "YOU'RE NOT TRYING HARD ENOUGH! SHE HAS TO BE SOMEWHERE! SHE CAN'T HAVE JUST-,"_

_ Finally, Zeus managed to pull Hera away and she collapsed in tears, sobbing as Zeus picked her up, beckoned at his children to follow and slowly walked away._

_ It was after that did Zeus slowly started to become colder and more distant, finally becoming the serious businessman he is now; a completely different person from a few years ago. It was also then did the random children start popping up in the house. _

_ At first, before Hebe was born, it was only Athena, and Hera was fine with it because Athena was respectful and smart. But then, after Eileithyia disappeared, the twins, Artemis and Apollo came, then Hermes, and finally Dionysus. _

_ Then, her sister Demeter got into some accident and had never been right in the head ever since._

_ Hera feels like her beautiful, perfect world had collapsed around her the moment she went back outside to the garden to find that her youngest daughter Eileithyia had vanished from her baby swing._

**στριμμένα**

_ "We are offering you a much better place to stay," a woman with curly, metallic red and gold hair and cold, piercing green eyes said, smiling at Eileithyia. "We have never seen such talent as yours, other than the legendary Phantom, that is. But it could be possible for you to be the next Phantom. Even though you are only seven, you have shown a wonderful talent in fighting. Will you join?"_

_ Eileithyia glanced up at the woman. "How do I know if this… Firestorm place will be better than this orphanage?" She gestured at the gloomy room they are in._

_ "You'll just have to try and find out, wouldn't you?"_

_ The seven year old sighed. "I've been here for four years. Perhaps it would be nice for a change." She looked up, her electric blue eyes seeming to crackle with static. "I will join your organization, Lynette Scorch. But on one condition."_

_ Scorch nodded at her to continue._

_ "You will help me take revenge on the Olympian family."_

**στριμμένα**

"Artemis and Apollo Olympia?" Tyche called. The twins walked up to her.

"Is something wrong?" Apollo asked nervously. Even though it had already been a year and 3 months, Apollo was still jumpy around his trainers. Tyche shook her head, smiling a bit.

"Don't worry, it's good news. I think," Tyche added in afterthought. "You are being called to Scorch!"

Apollo gulped. "Why?" he ventured.

Tyche shrugged. "I'm not sure. You might be killed, you might have graduated or something but anyways, you're going to the office. Follow me!"

The twins trailed behind her as Tyche led the way around the maze of underground tunnels- the Firestorm Academy. Finally, after a lot of walking, they arrived at a large door. Tyche knocked twice and a voice called from the inside, "Come in!"

The twin's trainer gave them a reassuring smile and pushed them towards the door. Cautiously, Artemis pushed it open to find herself in a room with red walls, red carpet floors, and red… everything. A woman with red and gold curls and piercing green eyes was sitting behind a large red mahogany desk. She smiled slightly at the twins.

"Sit, sit," Lynette Scorch gestured at the two chairs in front of her. They sat.

"Artemis and Apollo Olympia, am I correct?" the Head of Firestorm asked. Artemis nodded while Apollo said nervously, "Yes, ma'am."

Scorch smiled in a slightly cold and slightly playful way, like she had pulled a cruel prank and was watching it as it explodes in someone's face. "You two have passed perfectly, just like every other Olympian. I cannot express with simply words how lucky we are to have such skilled and talented fighters on our side."

"I doubt you summoned us here to praise us, Ms. Scorch," Artemis interrupted, earning herself a shocked and scared look from her brother. "Please just get to the point already."

Scorch nodded. "You are correct, Artemis. As you two may well know, you only have to pass one last test, and you are officially an assassin of Firestorm. You will get your codename and everything… but first! You have to complete this mission. Lynette Scorch slid a folder across her desk to the twins.

Artemis opened it to find a picture of a young man staring up at her. Next to the picture was the name 'Alexander King'.

"A Firestorm Assassin. Later found out was a Red Riders spy. Age: 19," Artemis read from the file.

"So… what are we supposed to do?" Apollo asked Scorch, who laughed as if that was the most ridiculous question ever.

She smiled coldly. "Why, you kill him, of course!"

**Sorry, short chapter. But please review!**


	8. The First Mission

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story. Not the Greek Gods/Goddesses, not any characters from PJO, not Firestorm or the Black Assassins or Lynette Scorch or Anastasia Jaden or GIS. Only Alexander King and the plot.**

**VIII**

Alexander King was not a fighter. Sure, being a Black Assassin, of course he could fight much better than normal people, but that doesn't mean he _likes_ it. All in all, he hates violence in general- a surprise, considering his name sounds pretty violent.

King was more of a spy person- and he was talented at his job. He was one of the best spies of the Black Assassins. He even looks like his job! With dark, slightly long hair, dark blue-grey eyes and a lanky build, he's a perfect spy… not. He's too tall. But that doesn't matter. All that matters right now was that he had spied on Firestorm, and Firestorm was determined to get him back.

For King, he had temporarily retired. After all, spying on Firestorm, the second most powerful terrorist organization in the world wasn't exactly easy, and as a reward, King had gotten a vacation.

When King's not doing his job, he was enjoying his day at his small, comfy house in Florida, near the beach. Currently, King is sitting on a rocking chair in his living room, reading a book. Every few minutes, he would push his slightly-long hair back to get them out of his eyes and whenever he got to an exciting part in the story, he would tug on the collar of white T-shirt or rub a hand on his black denim jeans. His 'attractive' (as many girls would suggest) eyes darted through the book anxiously, as if he's afraid he'd be interrupted.

Why were Artemis and Apollo noticing all these small, unnecessary details? Well, it's called the eyes of the Hunters. They always manage to catch even the tiniest detail.

"That's the guy we're supposed to kill," Artemis whispered, looking unimpressed. "He looks like a normal person enjoying a day in his home!"

"He's pretty hot," Apollo noted.

"Which kind of 'hot'?" his sister asked back. "He might not be terrible looking but then AC's not on in his house."

"How did you know that?"

Artemis pointed at the closed AC at the corner of the living room.

"Oh."

"Anyways…" Artemis pulled out her gun quietly and loaded it, then aimed it carefully. "One…" she muttered to herself, "Two… Three."

And she fired.

But the outcome wasn't what they had expected. King had jerked back at the last second.

Artemis's eyes widened at such quick reflexes. One part of her mind was wishing she could be that fast as well, while the more dominant part of her mind was screaming, "KILL HIM!" and "RUN AWAY!"

Apollo sighed dramatically. "He dodged it and survived. Seems like we'll have to go medieval times!" He notched an arrow before letting it fly; but King was ready. He snatched the arrow in midair, centimeters away from his forehead.

"Damn it!" the younger twin swore.

"Medieval Times it is," Artemis muttered as she pulled out her hunting knives and crashed into the house through the window, doing a flip to avoid the glass and landing gracefully.

"Who are you?" King drawled, looking like he doesn't care who the hell his attackers actually are. The twins didn't answer, only continued trying to finish their job.

Key word: trying.

They weren't able to even _graze_ him with their weapons. He just kept dodging.

And then, the impossible happened.

A voice yelled, "STOP!" and as if the voice was laced with magic, Artemis, Apollo, and King all froze. Then there was a whooshing sound and King slumped to the ground, an arrow through his head. Immediately, Artemis and Apollo spun around, tensing, but they saw nothing.

"We killed that man only because he had seemed the most dangerous and he's the oldest," a voice, different from the one that yelled 'stop', said. It sounded like it came from everywhere.

"We come in peace," Artemis called, dropping her weapons to the ground and raising her empty hands, nudging Apollo to tell him to do the same.

"Good," another voice said. "Don't you dare think of even moving or we'll put an arrow in your head before you could blink."

Slowly, four girls emerged from different corners of the room, surrounding the twins.

"Stay still," an extremely pretty girl with choppy brown hair, light brown skin, and eyes that's constantly changing colors commanded. She was the one who had yelled 'stop'.

"Names," the second voice, a girl with dark brown- almost black hair, and dark eyes demanded.

"I am Artemis Olympia," the older twin said calmly, "and this is my younger twin brother, Apollo."

The girl with dark eyes nodded at the two other girls that had stayed silent so far. "Search them."

A girl with short, choppy black hair and electric blue eyes searched Artemis, throwing anything that could be even remotely dangerous to the ground. After searching her, the girl grinned. "I like you," she said to Artemis, nodding approvingly. "You've got spunk." Then she went back to the corner where she emerged from. Artemis recognized her as the voice who had threatened to shoot them.

Apollo was finished being searched by a pretty blonde with tanned skin and stormy gray eyes. She only glared at the younger twin before stalking away.

"Who are you?" Artemis asked. She knew that she was trying her luck but she was really curious.

For a moment, they were met by silence and Artemis became nervous that they'd kill them, but then the dark eyed girl stepped forward and held out a hand.

She answered Artemis, "I am Reyna Ramírez-Arellano, the leader of the Roman Hunted."

**Sorry for the extremely short chapter but I'm really, really busy these weeks. I'll try to update soon.**


	9. An Email

**Sorry for not updating for like, 3 months, but I had this horrible, horrible writer's block... so I got a slightly longer chapter this time. Wish you like it, and remember to review!**

**IX**

"I believe that you will not speak of our existence or location to anybody in this world?" Reyna Ramírez-Arellano raised an eyebrow at the twins, who both nodded.

"You better not," the girl with black hair and electric blue eyes-who they had found out is named Thalia- glowered, mainly at Apollo, who flinched slightly at her glare. Artemis almost rolled her eyes. You are a Firestorm assassin, idiot!

"If you do, we won't be so certain about your life," Annabeth, the pretty blonde girl with scary gray eyes said. "We've seen you fight: you guys are good. But trust me," at this she glared at the twins, "we are much, _much_ better."

"Where did you guys learn to fight like that?" Thalia asked.

Artemis and Apollo exchanged looks, then shook their heads. They doubt that they're allowed to start spouting random information about Firestorm to strangers. Especially scary, dangerous strangers like the four girls around them.

Reyna sighed. "We won't push, though that does make you seem more suspicious, you know."

The twins nodded.

"Are there only girls?" Apollo suddenly asked. Artemis looked like him like he's crazy. Why in the world would you ask that question?

When their four guards turned to frown at him, Apollo shrugged. "Well, there are only girls here…"

Then, Piper, the girl with brown hair and kaleidoscope eyes asked, "Are you stupid?"

"Of course he is," Artemis answered before Apollo could even open his mouth. "What did you expect?"

"Hey!" the younger twin protested while Thalia and Piper chuckled. Annabeth only smiled a little and Reyna remained stoic.

"Where are we going?" Artemis asked cautiously. This is a dangerous question to ask when the people around you are dangerous and very likely enemies.

"Our camp." To her surprise, Reyna actually answered. "We will decide what to do with you two when we get there."

Apollo gulped. That did not sound good…

**στριμμένα**

After walking for some time, the group of 5 girls and a boy arrived at a tall hill with a tall, healthy pine tree on it. Something gold glittered on the branches of the tree.

"Welcome to Camp," Annabeth said, not sounding welcoming at all.

"This is the Greek Camp," Reyna said. "The Roman Camp is somewhere else."

"Greek and Roman?" Artemis said, slightly puzzled.

Thalia nodded. "The Greeks and Romans are huge rivals in the ancient times, which were mainly why we named our two camps that. Piper, Annabeth, and I are Greek. Reyna is Roman."

"But the Greeks and Romans aren't the only groups of Hunted," Piper added. "There are also the Hunters and the Amazons. Thalia joined the Hunters."

"But if you guys are rivals, why…" Apollo trailed off.

"We are currently at war," Reyna said, not really answering his question. "But not with each other. We have come together to defeat a greater enemy that will benefit all of us when defeated."

"Who's that?" inquired Apollo.

However, Annabeth only said, "You have your secrets. We have ours."

And that was the end of the conversation.

People stared, pointed, and whispered as Artemis and Apollo were led past towards a large building.

"The Big House," Piper told them.

"Creative name," Apollo muttered, then yelped when Thalia cuffed him on the head. Artemis rolled her eyes.

"Please ignore my brother," she said apologetically. "He's unnaturally stupid."

Piper snorted softly while Thalia crossed her arms. "Well, of course he is. He's a _boy_."

"Do you have a problem with that?" Apollo snapped.

"Yes, and you can't do anything about it," Thalia shot back.

Both growled and glared at each other, trying to stare the other down. Artemis sighed. What did she every do to deserve being in this situation? Just why exactly is she between the two of them?

"You two, can you please stop?" Annabeth's glare was the scariest of them all. The two of them averted their gazes, Apollo with a scared expression and Thalia looking annoyed.

"For your information, Thalia is a Hunter," Piper piped up. "And not just any Hunter. She's the lieutenant of the Hunters."

"I'm sorry?" Artemis and Apollo were confused.

"The Hunters are a group of girls who, instead of taking refuge here, decide to risk their lives out in the wild and hunt down monsters that the Giants send our way," Annabeth explained. "But you can't just become a Hunter. You have to swear an oath to never date, never fall in love, and well, basically remain a virgin for the rest of your life, until you are killed in combat or during a hunt. Falling in love would either kick you out, or even worse, you'll be executed."

"A Hunter…" Artemis whispered in awe. This was definitely her type of group, just like those back in school…

And suddenly, for the first time in almost a year, a painful grief filled her chest. Zoë, Phoebe, Asia, everyone… and also her family: Hermes, Hebe, Athena, Auntie Hestia… hell, she even misses Hera and Demeter!

But Firestorm had taken her and her brother, tore them from their peaceful, care-free life.

Firestorm had taken away everything.

But then, Artemis had the best idea ever. What if Apollo and her just run away like this? They could take refuge here at this camp, and maybe she'll even be able to join the Hunters!

But her hopes were crushed when they arrived at the Big House and Annabeth told them, "We'll just ask you some questions before we send you back to where you came from."

"Can't we… stay here a little bit?" Artemis asked, flinching a little.

Annabeth stared at her with her piercing gray eyes. "No. You are not one of us, and we don't know who you are yet. You could be a spy or an enemy. In here, especially now, we, the Hunted could not afford to take risks."

"Why do you guys call yourselves the Hunted?" Artemis asked before she could stop herself. "What's so special about you guys?"

She was met by silence. But just when she was about to think that her questions aren't going to be answered, Annabeth spoke up, "We're special."

Well, that sure explains a lot.

"But not special in the good way," the blonde continued. "In a way, it might be good, actually, and cool, but it comes with a heavy, heavy price. Most of us don't live past adulthood."

"That doesn't explain a lot," Apollo informed her.

"Good," Annabeth nodded stiffly. Suddenly, she stopped, pointing to a door at the end of the hall. "Chiron is in there. He might answer your questions. But you'll have to answer truthfully as well. Remember, your life is on the line."

Artemis heard Apollo gulp before the two of them walked the rest of the way down the hall, conscious of the four pairs of eyes watching them carefully. Artemis raised a hand shakily and knocked twice.

"Come in," a voice said. The voice sounded nice enough. Maybe this wouldn't be that bad…"

Apollo pushed open the door hesitantly, and the twins almost screamed.

"Holy crap!"

Artemis was sure that she heard stifled laughter behind them, but she didn't care. All she could focus on currently was the man on a horse in the room. Not a man sitting on a horse. A man literally sewn onto the lower body of a horse.

A centaur.

Artemis thinks she's going to have a heart attack.

The centaur looked up from where he had been reading a book. "Ah, come in, come in."

"He talked!" Apollo whisper-screamed.

"Of course he can talk!" Artemis whisper-screamed back at him. "He has the upper body of a man!"

Apollo then let out a string of murmured curses; Artemis was extremely appealed to imitate and let out some shock that way as well.

The centaur looked nice enough, with graying brown hair and a twinkle in his brown eyes that reminded Artemis of Dumbledore. He beckoned them in, and trotted over to close the door gently behind them.

And then, something even scarier happened.

The centaur's lower body suddenly folded and overlapped, and within seconds, instead of a centaur standing in front of them, the twins were looking at a man sitting in a wheelchair, his legs covered by a blanket.

All they could do was gawk. "In the name of Zeus…" Artemis chocked out.

The centaur held out a hand, smiling warmly. "Hello children, my name is Chiron. Would you like to introduce yourselves?"

To Artemis's surprise, Apollo recovered first to answer the question, though his voice was still shaky as he said, "I'm Apollo, and this is my twin sister Artemis."

"Which one is older?"

Artemis raised a hand.

"I see," Chiron nodded, then gestured at the worn sofa at one side. "Please sit."

Artemis and Apollo did just that, though they sat a bit closer to each other than usual, as if they're afraid if they sat too apart, the centaur would suddenly gobble them up one by one.

…That didn't really make sense, did it?

"I would like to ask you a few questions first, and then, if you two have any question, I'll gladly answer, unless it's too private."

Artemis and Apollo nodded their understanding.

"Okay," Chiron leaned forward a little, putting his elbows on his knees and resting his head on fisted hands. "Why were you two fighting that man?"

The twins exchanged glances before Artemis opened her mouth hesitantly. "Well… you see…" And suddenly she found herself blurting out everything to Chiron, starting from the day they woke up in a plane, tied up, to the horrid training, to passing the tests, to Ariadne's death on her first mission, and finally, to being sent to kill Alexander King. Something about Chiron just seems to put you at ease and trust him. "And then, well, you know the rest: we were brought here, and now, here we are."

Through the whole explanation Chiron had listened on patiently, occasionally nodding. There was no change in his expression, though Artemis noticed that his hands were clenched a little bit tighter when she was talking about the whipping.

"I see," he said when she was finished. Then, "Is there any way I could help you? Maybe lend you a hand in escaping or anything? No one," Chiron's eyes suddenly turned cold, the twinkle dying, "No one, especially children, should receive such treatment."

Artemis almost asked him to help them escape, and she knew that Apollo was ready to agree at any moment: Firestorm was horrid, and true, no one should deserve that kind of treatment, but suddenly, she remembered Melinoe, Kymopoleia, and Eileithyia.

Over time, the twins had discovered that both Melinoe and Kymopoleia were extremely homesick. Though they had always been the distant, seemingly-uncaring ones, they had loved their family very much. And it had been so many years already… Such a long time…

But Eileithyia, however, was different. She was the exact opposite. The twins found out that she hates the Olympians with passion, especially Zeus and Hera, her own parents, as they had abandoned her at the age of two. Artemis and Apollo were shocked; they didn't even know she existed, though that just made Eielithyia even more furious.

"See, they don't even care!" she had said angrily. "Even after I was kidnapped they didn't even send search parties!"

But still Eileithyia helped the twins, despite saying that she hated the Olympians.

"No," Artemis said, cutting Apollo off when he began to protest. "We still have people in Firestorm that we want to save."

Apollo's protests died, and he lowered his blue eyes. "Right, Melinoe and Kymopoleia."

"And Eileithyia," Artemis added.

Apollo gave her an incredulous look. "If we bring Eileithyia back home, she'll kill Dad and Hera!"

Artemis was silent for a moment, before saying quietly, "I don't believe that Dad and Hera would have actually abandoned her. And I doubt that Eileithyia truly hates us, the Olympians." She took a shuddering breath. "We just have to take the risk. If she does try to attack anybody, we'll subdue her. Two against one. We have a chance."

Apollo was still looking at her, shocked, while Artemis turned to Chiron, who had been watching with a thoughtful expression. "We would like to contact our families, telling them that we, along with Melinoe, Kymopoleia, and Eileithyia are safe. That is all. Then, we would like to return to Firestorm."

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Artemis nodded solemnly while Apollo just looked away, sulking slightly.

The older twin quickly typed up an email, sending it to Athena's email (because that's the only email address she could remember), and very soon, Apollo and Artemis were ready to leave.

"I'm glad you two survived the interrogation," Piper winked at them.

Artemis shrugged. "It was nothing."

Reyna gave them a long, hard stare and a stiff nod. "Good luck."

"Thank you," Apollo nodded his gratitude.

"Wish you punks have fun!" Thalia slung an arm around Artemis's shoulders, ignoring Apollo completely. "You would make a great Hunter, you know?"

Artemis's lips twitched into a small smile. "I would love to join someday."

Annabeth nodded at them, a small, barely visible smile on her face. "May the odds be ever in your favor."

The twins laughed, and waving behind their shoulder, made their way down the hill.

Making their way back down to hell.

**στριμμένα**

Athena almost screamed when she read the email, but she kept her cool as she calmly walked down the winding staircase to the living room where most of the adults were gathered.

She showed them the email, but her mind was blank, not recalling the adults' shocked reactions.

But in her blankness, all she could remember was one name: Eielithyia.

The girl that had killed a man in front of Athena's very eyes.


	10. Impure

**X**

"Mommy," a young girl with curly black hair and soft, innocent gray eyes tugged on the hem of the skirt of a cold, beautiful woman with brown hair pinned up in a bun and icy brown eyes. "Mommy, I'm bored."

The woman- the girl's mother gave her a cold look, almost like a glare, but the young girl wasn't fazed. She simply gave the woman a pleading look, and the woman sighed, snapping the book she was reading shut.

"Well then, Athena, what do you want to do?"

Athena thought for a moment before shouting, "The Park!"

Her mother sat back down. "Well, if you'd like to go to the park, call Hephaestus and Ares to go with you. Maybe Hebe as well."

Beaming, Athena ran out of the sitting room. But she didn't go call her siblings: she didn't want to. She had been planning on meeting her friend from school there, and didn't want Ares or Hephaestus to scare her away. Hebe could come, but she was too young, and Athena didn't want to drag and babysit a toddler all day while she was supposed to be having fun, however quiet and obedient the toddler may be.

She still ran upstairs, however, but not to call her siblings.

Athena entered a dark room sneakily. She made her way through the room, trying her best to avoid the toys scattering the floor and humming quietly along the soft lullaby that filled the warm, dark room.

Standing on tippy toes, she peeked over the edge of a crib, smiling down at the pair of twins asleep in each other's arms. She blew them a kiss before hurrying out again, ready to burst out the house and charge full speed towards the park.

And that was exactly what she did.

Happily she skipped down the road, humming a little song, enjoying the warm summer breeze. She was free!

But at the same time, she couldn't shake off the feeling that somebody was watching her, but when she turned around, there was no one there.

**στριμμένα**

It turned out that Nike was unable to come because she had to visit her Grandmother in the hospital.

Sulking slightly, Athena sat on the swing, kicking the ground and watching the dust fly up then slowly float down.

It was getter warmer as the sun climbed higher into the sky, and there were not a lot of kids around. The only ones who were there were all older than her.

Except for one.

It was another girl, and though she was also older, she couldn't be older by much, maybe 7. She was leaning against a tree, staring at the ground, kicking up dust just like Athena.

Athena's eyes seem to light up, and she jumped up from the swing, cautiously and slowly making her way to where the girl rested under the shade. Her wavy brown hair casted dark shadows onto her face, and she was extremely pale.

"Um… excuse me?" Athena called cautiously, slightly nervous.

The girl's head snapped up, watching her with wide, scarily familiar electric blue eyes.

"Who are you?" the girl asked simply, somewhat hostile, glaring at her. Athena wasn't fazed. She was used to all those hostile expressions and glares. She grew up with them.

"Do you want to play with me?" Athena asked, smiling kindly up at the taller girl and holding out a hand. "My name is Athena."

The girl hesitated for quite some time before taking her hand, shaking it slowly. "I'm Eileithyia."

**στριμμένα**

"So…" Athena trailed off, unsure of what to say. From what she could collect, Eileithyia was very quiet and cold, and doesn't like speaking much. But she was very athletic, as can be seen through the smoothness and fluidness of her movements and how when they had a small monkey bar contest, Eileithyia had swung herself from one side to another in no time at all.

Athena herself wasn't too bad at sports, unlike Hebe or Hephaestus, but she couldn't help being jealous. It's very likely that Eileithyia had learned gymnastics before, being so flexible and light. Athena had wanted to learn, but she had dead-beat parents. Tragic, really.

And now the pair of them sat on the old, creaky swings, enveloped in awkward silence, Athena trying and failing to start a conversation.

"So…" she tried again. "What is your favorite color?"

"Red," Eileithyia answered.

"Oh," Athena was slightly disappointed at another failure to start a conversation. "Mine's gray."

Awkward silence filled the air, so tense you could almost see it.

"…What were you doing there?"

Athena was shocked. Did Eileithyia just ask her a question? But when she turned to look at the older girl incredulously, she gave a cold, hard stare so much like the one Hera gives her.

"I… was waiting," Athena answered slowly. "My friend was supposed to come, but then it turned out she can't. But I didn't want to go home yet, so I stayed here at the park, even though it was boring with no one else to play with. Then I saw you, and I thought you looked, um, lonely, so…" she trailed off, shrugging. Then turning to Eileithyia, she countered, "What about you?"

"Waiting," was the answer, "Just like you."

"For who?"

"Not for a friend, not like you," Eileithyia said, looking up at the sky. "For someone else. Someone who deserves to die."

"Do you hate that person?" Athena frowned at the older girl, who shrugged.

"If you don't know, why does that person deserve to die?"

Another shrug.

"But-,"

"You're asking too much questions!" Eileithyia snapped suddenly, her electric blue eyes filling with static. Athena's mouth clamped shut.

Eileithyia glanced at her watch. "3:28. Should be anytime now…" Then turning to the younger girl, she told her, "I've got to leave. It was nice meeting you." And she leapt out of the swing then stalked away, never looking back, never caring to look back.

**στριμμένα**

But Athena followed her.

Athena might not be the most mature girl in her class (well, not yet, anyway), but she was the smartest. Very quickly, she had marked Eileithyia as suspicious (she wasn't a very good actress),and decided that whatever the older girl was going to do, it wasn't something nice.

And she was right.

Athena followed her for a very long time, weaving through crowds of people, crossing streets, but she never lost Eileithyia, nor did she lose herself in the maze.

As she was following her down a long road, Eileithyia suddenly swerved and crossed into a small, dark alley, covering her face with a large hoodie at the same time.

Peeking over the edge, she saw Eileithyia talking with a large man in a trenchcoat. They exchanged some quick words, and the man began laughing, saying, "I asked for a helper, but I didn't expect a scrawny seven year old!"

Athena noticed Eileithyia's smile before the man did, and she caught the flash of metal, unlike the chuckling man.

And then there was a spray of blood, so much blood, splattering onto the walls and the ground, onto Eileithyia and the man choked, gasped, then crumbled to the ground.

Athena was frozen for a moment before she turned and ran. Blindly, she ran, gasping, so filled with horror, she couldn't breathe.

And when she entered the house, slamming the door shut behind her, she looked down to the ground.

And she was unclean, impure.

For the man's blood had splattered upon her.

**So... thanks for everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed! If you like this story, please give a comment. I'd love to hear your opinions! **


	11. Unfeeling, Unknowing

**Please remember to review!**

**XI**

Time passed fast. Too fast. And too many things happened in between the two years that passed like the wind.

After the incident with the Hunted, Artemis and Apollo returned to Firestorm, their hands still clean from blood, at the same time graduating smoothly from Firestorm Academy. They became the Sun and the Moon.

But the cleanliness did not last long. Approximately 3 months later, Ariadne was sent onto her final test- she was later than the others, being slightly weaker.

She never came back.

Nobody was too sure what happened, but it was rumored that she was killed by the Black Assassins, the rival organization of Firestorm, and also the largest and most powerful.

Either way, they never saw her again. There wasn't even a body.

Another month or two later, the twins were once again sent onto a mission.

They made their first kill: a young woman who for some reasons, owed something to Firestorm and never paid. When they had her tracked down, ready to be killed, neither Artemis nor Apollo wanted to strike first; neither of them wanted to be the first to be stained with sin.

So they made the kill together, and stained their hands with blood at the same time.

They hated it, hated it already at first. Hated it even more when later they found out that she had a husband and she was pregnant.

Hated it so much their chests ache with hatred.

But they couldn't do anything. They were afraid to. Firestorm was so big: two young recruits weren't all that important to them. And they knew the threat of their family being killed if they disobeyed hovering over their heads.

More jobs, more blood. Artemis wanted to stick an arrow through Scorch's head. If it wasn't for her…

She restrained herself. Everything seems to be in a daze now. Everything seems hazy and unfocused, like they were walking through a blurry memory.

Artemis looked up when she heard the door to the training room open and Apollo walked in. He and Artemis was the same. Both had sunken into a half-dazed state, unfeeling, unknowing.

"A job," he said simply before leaving again to get ready. Artemis followed him swiftly.

Arrows, guns, knives, all strapped and hidden all over their bodies. Casual clothes to hide them, acting… blood everywhere…

Mission accomplished…

Artemis and Apollo entered a familiar region. Not all that familiar, but they could vaguely remember it. They were in a park; the same park they had spent so many afternoons in when they were younger. Before all this.

They knew that road: that long, winding cement road lined with bushes and flowers and trees and houses. As you walked down the road, the houses will become more and more extravagant, and at the very, very end of the road, there stood the most magnificent house of all, so immense and proud it was like a castle.

Artemis and Apollo knew that house. They had lived in it. They had called it home for many years, practically all their lives.

But it was no longer home.

The twins turned their gaze away from the memory, unfeeling, unknowing.

And they froze.

Artemis and Apollo had been sitting on a bench, side by side, looking out into the distance when they heard a voice that sounded almost familiar.

The voice laughed, and another voice joined in, the two of them beginning to chat.

At that moment, another voice, another voice they knew, called out to the first voice, joining the conversation. More came, and the memories began to resurface.

The proud and all-knowing voice of Athena, the sweet, quiet voice of Hebe. The mischievous bragging of Hermes and the slurred, undistinguishable words of Dionysus.

The twins turned their heads a fraction towards their long-lost family who sounded so happy.

Then more voices came. Aunt Hestia, Aunt Demeter, Uncle Poseidon… Hera, their Father Zeus, Uncle Hades and his kind wife Persephone, along with sweet Aunt Amphitrite. The loud, boisterous joking of Ares and Triton, the almost inaudible tinkering of Hephaestus's agile hands.

It was this sound that began to wake the twins. They opened their eyes once more, and they began to breathe again. They turned completely, back to the memory, feeling, knowing, seeing, breathing, thinking, yearning…

They were alive. And for the first time in two years, they acknowledged that. For the first time in two years, a smile crept up their faces, and tears fell from their eyes.

"I…" Artemis couldn't speak, peeking back towards her family. All of them have grown older, but they haven't changed much. Athena was still proud and pretty in a cold, calculating way. Hermes was still elf-like and mischievous. Dionysus was still drunk. Ares and Triton were still annoying as hell. Hephaestus still has no life. Aunt Demeter was still crazy, and Aunt Hestia still looks seven, sweet and kind. There were more gray hairs on the adults, but that was it.

They were still the family Apollo and Artemis remembered.

Hestia took out a large blanket from a basket, and with the help of a few others, spread it out onto the grass. The girls began to set up a picnic.

The twins couldn't believe it. Everybody was there, even their father. And they all looked so happy… even though Artemis and Apollo have been lost. Apparently they've gotten over it.

The picnic was set up, and everybody sat down, beginning to enjoy the wonderful cooking of Iris and Aunt Demeter. They were chatting, laughing…

Abruptly, Artemis stood up. Apollo copied her actions without a question, and slowly, the two of them began strolling towards the large family.

As they neared them, Hestia suddenly stood up, a cup of orange juice in her hand. She cleared her throat before speaking up, "Everybody, attention!" The chatters stopped. Even Ares and Triton stopped joking around.

"I believe you all know why today in particular, we're coming out for a picnic." Hestia began. "If you've forgotten, shame on you, but let me remind everybody anyway." She took a deep breath. "Today is the fourth anniversary of the disappearance of Artemis and Apollo Olympia, our beloved twins."

Both Artemis and Apollo stopped, mid-step.

"Artemis and Apollo, though they didn't seem to like each other too much, they actually care about each other… and everyone else a lot. They were an irreplaceable part of the family, just like Melinoe and Kymopoleia."

Eileithyia's name was never mentioned.

"The twins were special, talented, and without them, the family seems empty and lifeless. Though we do not know what had happened to them, let us never forget them."

Artemis turned once more, away from her family, biting down a sob. Apollo placed a hand onto her shoulder.

"Though two years ago we have miraculously received an email from them, sent from an anonymous address, it was too long ago. We do not know how they are now."

_ Time has passed._

It was the first time in two years that Artemis realized that. Time has passed, so quickly it didn't seem to have passed at all. But it did, and they could not get the time back.

Turning once again, facing her family once, Artemis took a deep breath and pulled down her hoodie, Apollo following her actions.

Together, they walked up to the picnic crowd, smiling the best they could. "Missed us?"


End file.
